Apparatus for transforming electrical energy.



No. 781,000. PATENTED JAN. 31, 1 905.

P. O. HEWITT. APPARATUS FOR TRANSFORMING ELECTRICAL ENERGY.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25.1902.

I UNITED STATES T'atent'ed January 31, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

PETER COOPER HEWITT, NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO COOPER HEWITT ELECTRIC COMPANY, A COR- v TORATION OF NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFORMING ELECTRICAL ENERGY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,000, dated January 31, 1905. Application filed April 25, 1902' Serial No. 104,608.

1'0 all whom, it may concern! Be it known that I, PETER COOPER HEWITT,

a citizen of the United States, and a residentof New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Transforming Electrical Energy, ofwhich the following is a specification.

I have-found that when an inclosed gas or vapor of suitable character and density contained within a holder of suitable character and dimensions and having appropriate electrodes is connected in an electric circuit there will be opposed to the passage of electric current an initial resistance which may be over come by an electromotiveforce of suflicient value, the gas or vapor then serving as a conductor acros'sthe gap in the metallic circuit when the proper conditions of current are supplied. This initial resistance appears as if aself-created electrical resistance phenomenon at the negative electrode, which on being overcome removes itself without any appreciable energy loss.

V The. resistance which the gas or vapor shall offer to the current during the period of discharge may be made of practically any desired value within Wide limits, While the initial resistance above referred to can also be made of any desired value, each independently of the other. In other words, it is possible to so construct an apparatus of this sort as to present initially a very high resistance to the passage of the current and to present a very low resistance to the current after it has once been established through the apparatus. Should other conditions be required, both these factors may be varied by altering the construction of the apparatus in the first instance. Assuming, however, alow resistance determining the, other factors hereinbefore mentioned, are fully set forth in certain patents issued to me on the 17th day of September, 1901. If desired,special means formaintaining a constant temperature may be applied to the apparatus when it is used in place of a spark-gap.

Inasmuch as the electrodes remain practlcally unchanged. by repeated use and the whole A apparatusis substantially unaltered, a single apparatus will operate Without any need of attention or repair. Should it be desired to provide a higher initial resistance, so as to increase the rise of potential in thedischargecircuit, a new apparatus can be substituted calling for such higher potential at the start;

but this new apparatus may, like the first,

consume little or no current during the discharge period. ers may be used in series or parallel, and In case it is not desired to have the initial resistance to starting so great it may be modified by starting-bands at the electrodes, asdescribed in my patents, and in case it is desired to operate several breakers in parallel they may be timed by connecting the startingbands or groups thereof together. In these respects the described apparatus is superior to the ordinary air-gap, in using which it is nec- These electric-circuit break- Another feature of my apparatus is that the gas between the electrodes acts as a true vapor-conductor after the circuit is once established through the vapor, and when this conductor is made of very low resistance practically a short circuit is formed. Since the vapor resistance factors are known and the conditions they are subject to, the action can always be depended upon.

By the passage of current the electrical pressure or voltage is lowered to a point where the resistance to starting re-forms, whereupon the checked current rebuilds or reestablishes itself, its electrical pressure rising until the breaking-down pressure is again attained, after which the same succession of actions is repeated.

By utilizing the described apparatus in the manner indicated periodic currents of high frequency can be produced, by reason of the fact thatits action is very quick and uniform. It is especially adapted to the work of creating currents of definite time periods and. rapid alternations.

I have found, for instance, that with a device consisting of an inclosed mercury-vapor organized in the manner described in my patents above referred to and provided with a condenser and a reactive device suitably placed and adjusted with reference thereto it is possible to produce such currents, the action being in the first instance to apply to the terminals of the vapor-gap a potential difference sufiicient to overcome the initial resistance, whereupona rapid fall of potential takes place until it reaches a point where it is insufiicient to overcome the reduced resistance at the vapor-gap. At this point the current ceases to flow, the break in current-flow being abrupt on account of the immediate reestablishment of the initial resistance of the vapor. Thereafter the applied potential rises until it reaches the breaking-down pressure of the initial re- 7 sistance, and then the same cycle of operations is repeated.

The intermittent or vibratory currents produced in the circuit by the circuit-breaker thus described may be applied to use in the vapor or gas gap itself, or they may be applied to other apparatus, or to both simultaneously. For example, one application of the present invention would be to serve the purposes of furnishing a periodic current for wireless telegraphy and another for producing rapidly-varying currents for the purpose of producing light by induction, and still another application would be that of producing light-say in the vapor-gap itself-by means of successive electrical impulses of relatively high electromotive force, causing a high illumination of the vapor or gas at such rapid intervals that the physiological impression is that of continuous illumination.

in making the last-named application of my invention I cause the intermittent currents produced by the intermittent action of my apparatus to act upon the vapor in the gap in such a way as to produce a brilliant light. To this end the density of the vapor and the dimensions of the container are suitably proportioned to each other for this purpose, as set forth in a general way in my patents of September 17, 1901; but, whereas in the inventions set forth in the said patents the vapor is intended to be effected by a flow of current of given value at a certain potential, the purpose in the present instance is to affect the gas or vapor by an intermittent flow of a current of practically the same value, but of higher potential, the energy represented by the intervals between the impulses being intermittently withdrawn from action and reappearing in the form of an increased quantity in the rapid periodic currents. The result is an increased brilliancy on the part of the lamp, due to this increased consumption of energy per unit of time, while the effect upon the eye becomes that of a light due to a continuous flow of current of greater quantity.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating an application of my invention, Figure 1 is a diagram showing a general organization of the apparatus. Fig. 2 shows a modilication, and Fig. 3 is a theoretical diagram.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents any convenient source of electrical energysay, for instance, a continuous-current generator, (which for convenience it may be assumed in this particular instance to be of thirty-live hundred volts) 2 and 3 represent main conductors leading from the generator.

4 represents an electric device of the character described in my patents hereinbefore referred to. This is connected at any convenient point between the conductors 2 and 3. A condenser 5 or other suitable device or means for affording an electrical capacity is cona condenser, I mean to include other suit-* able means for securing the requisite electrical capacity.

Assuming that the circuit of the generator is closed by the switches 9 and 10, there will be a sudden rush of current through the lines 2 and 3, tending to charge the plates 7 7 of the condenser 5. The inductor resistance 6 opposes a counter electromotive force to the applied electromotive force, thus temporarily resisting the flow of current beyond that resistance. The condenser 5 thus becomes gradually charged as the electromotive force at its terminals rises.

Assuming that the device 4 will be traversed by a current under the influence of a difference of potential of three thousand live current.

will take current.

hundred volts, then'as soon as the condenser 5 has attained its charge a current will traverse the device; but the moment such current does traverse the device the difference of potential at its terminal is enormously reduced. Practically it may be made to drop as low as one hundred volts, or even below twenty volts- Thereupon the condenser 5 discharges or feeds the circuit between itself and the device. The reactive coil 6 may serve to prevent at this time too great adischarge from the source of On the discharge of the condenser the passage of current through the device will cease and the operation be repeated, causing rapidly-succeeding impulses of current to traverse the device. Each succeeding impulse will be at a potential of, say, three thousand five hundred volts, and the light emitted by the device will be of a brilliancy due to the product of the average voltage into the current during the successive time intervals of current-flow.

It is characteristic of these devices that they may be constructed not to pass an appreciable amount of current below a given voltage which can be predetermined, and therefore at the end of certain definite periods the current ceases to pass. Accordingly the device has a definite consumption period between the extreme higher limit of applied electromotive force and the lowest limit at which the device What is perceptible to the eye is the luminous vibrations due to these successive passages of current, the intervals of no current being undiscernable by reason of the rapidity with which the intervals follow each other. It is also characteristic of apparatus of this type, whether used as a lamp or as a discharge-gap, that it may be so dimensioned with relation to the vapor-column that the heat radiation will be equalto the heat absorbed under ordinary conditionsthat is to say, the temperature may be maintained constant, thus securing constant density in the gas or vapor. The enlargement represented by the chamber 44 at the top of the devices 1 in Figs. 1 and 2 is usually employed as contributing to-the maintenance of stable tem,

peratu re and density. The period of the condenser may be further retarded by an inductv ance device placed in the condenser-circuit. An additional condenser 12, placed between the source and the condenser 5, may serve to assist the speed of charge and discharge through the inductance 6. A similar inductance 6 may be included in the branch 3, if desired.

In my devices the starting is usually facilitated by the use of a band 1 L placed in the neighborhood of the negative electrode upon the exterior of the device and connected by a conductor 15 with the positive electrode or the conductor leading thereto and is useful where lower initial. voltages are to be used. The action of this band maybe that of producing an electric strain at or near the negative electrode, such strain tendingtoward cated in the drawings makes it possible to start the-apparatus by the application of a lower electromotive force thanwould be the case if the band or some equivalent thereof were not present.

By inserting the primary coil 16 of a converter 17 in one of the conductorsfor instance, 3, as shown in Fig. 1an' alternating current may be produced in asecondary circuit 18, which in turn may be used for any desired purpose. The primary coil 16 in this case may be utilized as the inductance device referred to above for retarding the period of the condenser-circuit.

In Fig. 2 I show the primary 16 of the converter 17 connected up between two condensers 5 and 20, connected in series across the terminals of the device 4:.

In Fig. 3 I have shown in diagram the theoretical curve illustrative of the difierences of potential and the changes therein which may denser discharges, dropping the current to I one hundred volts, as indicated by the portion 6 of the curve. The voltage then again rises to three thousand five hundred volts, as indicated by the portion d of the curve, the rate of charging being dependent upon the amount ofself-induction or resistance in the circuit between the condenser and the source- By varying'this self induction the portion d of the curve may be made more or less abrupt,

and by varying the inductive capacity of the circuit between the condenser and the device the portion 6 of the curve representing the operation of the device may be more or less prolonged. The lines drawn above and below the Zero-line near the end of Fig. 3 are designed to illustrate the gradually-decreasing surging-s of the condenser-current during the interval of discharge in its circuit.

By properly adjusting the capacity of the condenser, the circuit, and also the inductance almost any required definite period of charge and discharge may be secured. The condenser 5 may be made to act either by reason of its own natural period of oscillation or governed by the charge which it receives from the line as controlled by the line. I

The currents developed in the circuit and hereinbefore described as utilized for increasing the luminosity of one of my lamps may in addition be used for other purposes, or the quality of my apparatus as a light-giving body may be fully subservient to the development of currents for other purposes. In other Words, I may in some instances construct a gas or vapor apparatus having the primary object of controlling the rate of currents developed in the system, which currents may or may not operate to give light in the apparatus.

In distinction from the ordinary air-gap the apparatus herein described as being used for an analogous purpose is so constructed and the material forming the path for the discharge is of such a character that no injurious effect is caused by the operation of the apparatus for long periods. Moreover, the conditions under which the vapor constituting the path is placed make it possible to predetermine and control the voltage required to break down the resistance of the gap, which always remains the same in any given apparatus under the same conditions. The apparatus can be so constructed that the loss of energy during the passage of the discharge will be practically negligible-that is to say, the medium throughwhich the discharge passes may be of such high conductivity that no material waste of energy will take place in the operation of the device. By virtue of the same quality the apparatus imposes no material limitations upon the natural number of useful oscillations of the circuit. These features, which render the apparatus controllable, avoid the suppression of useful oscillations, prevent waste of energy, and render the resistance of the device independent of the current flowing after the initial resistance has been overcome, are among the features which difieren tiate the present apparatus from what is usually known as the spark-gap or "air-gap. A further differentiation is that the device when constructed with high conductivityoperates without developing inertia characteristics-that is to say, the initial high resistance is immediately reconstructed as soon as a discharge passes whereas there is no such sudden cessation of action when an air-gap is traversed by a discharge.

It is incidental to the character of my apparatus that I am at liberty to construct the electrodes either of volatile or non-volatile material. The electrode material may conveniently be a conducting liquid, in which case the electrode will present a clean liquid surface, and in case the liquid is volatile the electrode will possess the property of never becoming heated beyond the boiling-point of the liquid. Such material as volatilizes from the electrode may be condensed-say in the cooling-chamber 44and in returning in the condensed state to the electrode will unite with the latter, thus replacing the loss due to vaporization.

The intensity of certain characteristic electrode phenomena may be increased or diminished by devices external to the electrode, such as the action of the starting-band or the effects of temperature on the electrode.

definite predetermined In a companion application filed by me April 25, 1902, Serial No. 104, 607, claims are made upon certain methods of operation herein described. In a divisional application, Serial No. 124,625, filed September 24, 1002, claims are made upon certain features of the apparatus herein described, and in another application, Serial No. 214,901, filed July 1, 1901, claims are made upon a method of producing light described herein.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination of a source of electric currents, a condenser connected therewith, means for retarding the charge of the condenser, and a discharging-circuit conqinising a composite resistance, one element being of relatively low value, and the other of relatively high value, the relations being such that the high-value portion will be broken down by each successive condenser discharge, and the remaining portion of the resistance will act practically as the sole resistance to the passing current.

2. The combination with a source of electric currents, a condenser, and means for periodically charging the condenser, of a dischargecircuit, and a periodic discharging device contained therein, consisting of an electric translating device having a conducting medium ol predetermined resistance, and a high resistance in series therewith, the high resistance being removed under the influence of electrical pressure.

3. Aperiodic discharging device for the circuit of a source of electrical capacity, consisting of an electrical translating device having a conducting medium of predetermined resistance, and a high resistance in series therewith, the high resistance being removed under the influence of electrical pressure.

4. The combination with means for aii'ording electrical capacity and a discharge-circnit therefor, of an energy-transforming device in the discharge-circuit, said device having a definite normal consumption period with relation to the elcctromotive force applied to the discharge-circuit and the rate of discharge of the capacity, and means for varying the rate of the condenser discharge, such means being entirely independent of the energytransforming device.

5. The combination with a source of electric currents, an electrical ca1i acitycircuit connected therewith, means for retarding the charging of said capacity-circuit, a periodic d ischarging-circuit connected with the capacitycircuit comprising inclosed electrodes and an intervening gas or vapor path, and having a consumption range with relation to the rate of discharge oi the capacity and the electromotive force applied thereto.

6. The combination with means for all'ording electrical capacity and a discharge-circuit therefor, of a translating device acted upon by the condenser discharges, said translating device having a definite consumption period with relation to the rate .of discharge of the capacity and the electromotive force applied to the discharge-circuit, and means for varying the rate of discharge of the capacity, such means being entirely independent of the translating device.

7 In an electrical system for producing intermittent or vibratory electric currents of the periodicity of the charging and discharging circuits.

8. In an electrical system for producing intermittent or vibratory electrical currents, means for affording electrical capacity, charging and discharging circuits therefor, means for controlling the charging period, consisting of a suitable retarding resistance in the charging-circuit, means for controlling the discharging period, by varying the wave length of the discharge-current, in combination with an energy-transforming device in the discharging-circuit, having a definite consumption period with relation to the electromotive force impressed upon the dischargecircuit.

9. In a system of electrical distribution, the combination of a source of electric currents, an electric condenser connected therewith, a reactive device connected between the condenser and the source, a discharging-circuit comprising inclosed electrodes, and an intervening gas or vapor path, and an electric transformer or other consumption device interposed between the condenser'and the discharge device.

10. In asystem of electrical distribution, the combination of a source of electric-currents, an electric capacity-circuit, and means for charging the same from the source, a discharging-circuit for the capacity-circuit comprising inclosed electrodes, an intervening gas or vapor path and a Work-circuit derived from the discharging-circuit.

11. A periodic discharging device for the circuit of an electrical capacity, consisting of a conducting gas or vapor inclosed in a suitable container, and provided with means for maintaining a constant temperature.

12. In the discharge-circuit of a source of electrical capacity, the combination with such circuit, of a periodic discharging device, consisting of a conducting gas or vapor, a suitable container inclosing the same, and means for maintaining constant temperature.

13. The combination with means for affording electrical capacity and a discharge-circuit therefor, of a circuit-breaker consisting essentially of a confined gaseous electric conductor, a solid electrode, and a fluid-electrode.

14. The combination with a source of electric currents, of an approximately constant condition of'potential, of means for accumulating successive charges of electrical energy from said source, and aself-restoring circuit interrupter constituting a discharge-circuit therefor comprising electrodes and an intervening gaseous conductor of negligible resistance.

15. The combination with the dischargecircuit of a source of electrical capacity, of a discharge-gap included in the discharge-circuit, electrodes for the said discharge-gap, a conducting medium between the electrodes, and means for cooling at least one of the electrodes.

16. The combination with the dischargecircuit of a source of electrical capacity, of a discharge-gap included in the circuit, electrodes for the said discharge-gap, a conducting medium between the electrodes, and means for maintaining a constant temperature at at least one of the electrodes.

17 The combination with a source of electric currents and means of accumulation for the same, of a discharge-circuit comprising an' inductance and avapor-gap, said vapor-gap being so constructed as to maintain the density of the vapor at a predetermined value, one of the electrodes for the said vapor being of volatile material, and means for maintaining the temperature at a predetermined value.

18. A periodic discharging device for the. circuit of an electric capacity, consisting of a conducting gas or vapor inclosed in a suitable container, and provided with means for maintaining constant density. 1

19. In the discharge-circuit of a source of electrical capacity, the combination with such circuit, of aperiodic discharging device consisting of a conducting gas or vapor, a suitable container therefor, and means for maintaining constant density.

20. In the discharge-circuit of a source of electrical capacity, the combination with such circuit, of a periodic discharging device consisting of a conducting gas or vapor, a suitable container and electrodes therefor, and means for dissipating the heat from oneof the electrodes so as to control its temperature.

21. The combination with a source of electric currents, and means of accumulation for the same, of a discharging-circuit comprising an inductance and a vaporgap,said vapor-gap being so constructed as to maintain the density of the vapor at a predetermined value, and means for dissipating the heat from one of the electrodes so as to control its temperature.

22. A periodic discharging device for the discharge-circuit of a source of electrical capacity, consisting of an inclosing chamber, electrodes therein, and an intervening gas or vapor path having a definite consumption range.

23. A periodic discharging device for the discharge-circuit of a source of electrical capacity, consisting of an inclosing chamber, electrodes therein, and an intervening gas or vapor path having a definite consumption range, and adefinite rate of consumption for such range.

24.. The combination with a source of electrical capacity and a discharge-circuit therefor, of a self-restoring periodic circuit-breaker having a definite breaking-d own resistance and a uniform resistance during the discharge period, and comprising an inclosing chamber, electrodes therein, and an intervening gas or vapor path.

25. The combination with a source of electrical capacity and a discharging-circuit therefor, of a self-restoring periodic breaking-down resistance having a definite breaking-down point, and offering to the discharge after the breaking down, a medium which is a good electrical conductor and comprising an inclosing chamber, electrodes therein, and an intervening gas or vapor path.

26. In an electrical apparatus for producing intermittent or vibratory electric currents of definite rate, a condenser in circuit with a suitable generator, means for securing a delinite charging period for the condenser, adischarging-circuit independent of the chargingcircuit, an energy-transforming device in the discharge-circuit having the quality of taking a negligible current below a definite applied electromotive force, the relations being such that the charge of the condenser starts the energytransforming device into operation. while the electroniotive force in the dischargecircuit drops below the operative limit of the transforming device within the limits of the charging period of the condenser.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 23d dayol April, A. D. 1902.

PETE R COOPER HEWITT.

\Vitnesses:

\VM. H. GAIEL, GEORGE H. S'rooKBRIDoE. 

